Conundrum at a Conference
by pippinplush
Summary: Molly is invited to give a talk at a pathology meeting. Everything goes well until an unexpected visitor forces her to make a choice. This is somewhat of a continuation of my other two stories, Midnight at the Morgue and Morning with Moriarty.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: This is the beginning of a longer story. I decided to publish this ahead of the rest because it is taking me a bit longer to finish it. I tried not to use quite as many medical terms this time. But as always I'm a pathologist so it's hard for me to recognize terms that aren't necessarily common for non-medical people. If there is anything that isn't quite clear please PM me. Rated M for the anticipation of smut in future chapters. Also, Jim doesn't directly appear in this first chapter. I wanted to build it up a bit. Feedback is always appreciated!_

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Molly sighed as she checked her email for the hundredth time that day. It had been slow in the morgue. Only one case and it was decidedly not interesting. Her heart leapt a little when she saw the email. She nervously opened it and read it quickly. She had been invited to talk at a course at a pathology conference. She had done some teaching at the medical school, but nothing on this scale and certainly nothing where other pathologists would be paying to hear her speak. The topic she had proposed was the pitfalls of forensic pathology. She felt quite delirious with excitement. Her department would pay for her accommodations and travel. Plus it was a huge honor to run a course.

Her phone pinged and her heart stopped a little. Jim had been texting her on and off for the past couple of months. He hadn't stopped by to see her in person as far as she was aware, but that hadn't stopped him from reminding her of her soft spot for him. Her hands dug through her white coat pockets as she fished out her phone. "Congrats, Molls. Knew you could do it. xx JM" read her text. She quickly buried her phone into her pockets blushing furiously. She never responded to them of course. Except once when he teased her about what she was wearing that day. Molly didn't know what she was more irritated by, the fact that he felt the need to comment on her wardrobe or the fact that he wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was watching her. She decided to get back at him by texting Sherlock the good news. Of course he'd never respond, but she was sure Jim was tracking her messages. About a half hour later, her phone pinged again with a new message: "Tsk tsk Molly. Trying to make me jealous? You know better than that. xx JM" She sighed as she tried to focus on her work.

Over the course of the past few months, Molly had been working feverishly on her presentation for her course. She couldn't wait for the conference. It would be a nice break from her usual routine of autopsies and procuring organs for Sherlock. Sherlock did seem a bit irritated that he would have to deal with the other pathologists while she was gone. Molly was slightly pleased at the idea though. Maybe he would appreciate her more when she came back, she thought to herself. The thing that bothered her most was that she hadn't heard from Jim since she found out she would be presenting. Molly felt so conflicted. On one hand it was a bit of a relief to not have to field all of those texts, but on the other hand what if Jim was hurt? That's the option that bothered her the most and what troubled her the most as well. She couldn't afford to fall in love with the world's only consulting criminal especially when he had tried to kill Sherlock. Molly had dated enough to realize he wasn't going to change either. The part that shook her to her core was she wasn't sure if she cared. Molly was jolted back to reality by her phone buzzing in her pocket with a text from Sherlock bothering her about not being around in the conference. Molly sighed as she crinkled her forehead trying to finish up the rest of her presentation.

The rest of the week passed fairly uneventfully. Packing had been a slight chore on Friday night, but was facilitated by a glass of wine. Molly made a phone call to John to make sure he could watch Toby. She curled up in bed with Toby and a book about the cholera epidemic in London. As she drifted off to sleep, she felt a shiver go down her spine as she felt that someone was watching her. It was probably nothing she reassured herself. In the morning, Molly noticed her purse was on a different side of the room. She wasn't quite sure what that meant or if she had moved it and forgotten. Either way, she was running late for her flight. She kissed Toby as she locked up her flat and lugged her suitcase down her stairs.

The flight and trip to her hotel was uneventful. The hotel was in an older building, but had all the modern finishes. She particularly liked the large king size bed where she could sprawl out without Toby kicking her in the face. Molly texted back and forth with Sherlock trying to find out any details about what was going on in the morgue. Afterwards she decided to go out to dinner with some friends from her old pathology training program. When she was walking back to her hotel, Molly felt the sensation of being watched again. She scanned the street, but it was so enveloped in darkness that the dim glow from the street lamps was no help. For a minute she thought she caught a glimpse of Jim leaning against a light pole. But when she approached the light she realized no one was there. Perhaps her mind was playing tricks on her. Molly made it safely back to her hotel room. When she walked in, she noticed her suitcase had been moved. Molly toyed with the idea that Jim had followed her to the conference, but decided that was a silly idea. He hadn't talked to her in months. It was obvious he had lost interest.

Molly stayed up all night practicing her presentation. She even caved and tried practicing it in front of Sherlock over skype, but he just ended up making her feel worse. Inevitably, her thoughts drifted to Jim as they always did when she was alone and feeling particularly lonely. Deep down she had hoped that Jim would have contacted her. Maybe he would have let her practice her talk without mocking her. Molly decided to go to bed early that night, but had a fitful sleep. It was constantly filled with nightmares and anxiety over her lecture. Thankfully her lecture was in the morning so she could enjoy the rest of the day. It went well with the exception of a few people asking some fairly stupid questions about things she had already gone over. After the presentation she fielded the endless small talk with people she knew she should network with but was too exhausted to care about. Molly felt relieved when she was able to sneak out to get lunch. She savored the moments alone when she was at conferences. Sometimes it helped to have some time to think about things.


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: This is a shorter chapter. I promise the next one will be longer. I'm on a busier service right now so it's taking me a bit longer than I would like to finish it. Hopefully I'll post the next update sometime next week. Feedback as usual is always appreciated. Also if you have any questions about medical terms feel free to message me! _

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After lunch, Molly returned to the convention center to attend an afternoon course. It was one she was looking forward to about recognizing infectious disease in the lungs. She was particularly excited because it seemed like it would be helpful to her for autopsies. Molly glanced down at her watch and realized she was already a few minutes late. When she found the room, it was packed full of people. Molly instantly regretted getting dessert with lunch. If she had skipped it maybe she could have gotten to the lecture early and gotten a seat closer to the front. She settled for one in the middle of the back row. The lecturer was charismatic and his lecture was well thought out. Molly was quickly engrossed by the subject. The different features of aspergillus were particularly helpful.

Halfway through the first part of the lecture Molly noticed someone had taken the seat next to her. Through her peripheral vision she could see they were dressed in a grey suit. Who would even bother wearing a suit to one of these things she wondered to herself. Molly continued to try to focus on the lecture. She couldn't help but feel like he was watching her. She also was slightly perturbed by the fact that he was wearing the same cologne Jim wore. But she didn't want to be rude to look at him so she made up her mind to figure out who he was during the break. When the break came Molly made her way through the crowd of people to the hallway to get some coffee. As she was walking out, she noticed the man with the grey suit had left. I guess the lecture wasn't for him she chuckled to herself. Besides she thought to herself- how silly would it be for Jim to be attending a pathology conference. After the afternoon course was over, she decided to grab some take out for dinner. She had enough of interacting with people for the day. Clearly she was stressed out too because she kept hallucinating Jim's presence everywhere. It would be good for her to relax and watch a movie.

Molly made it back to her hotel room without much fuss. She did notice her suitcase had been moved again, but displaced any thoughts of someone purposefully messing with her. It was probably just the cleaning people. The one thing that bothered her was the door adjoining her room to the next one was unlocked. She remembered checking the lock when she first checked in. Perhaps the cleaning people had done something with it she justified to herself as she switched the lock. All of those thoughts made her feel quite stressed. After she finished her dinner, Molly decided that a nice hot shower would do just the trick to help her relax.

The hot droplets of water hit Molly's back. The stress melted away as she stood in the shower letting the water stream down her back. She got out of the shower and got into her most comfy set of pajamas. She poured herself a glass of wine from a bottle she had bought for herself earlier as a treat for being done with her lecture. As she switched through the TV channels mindlessly, she felt her blood run cold as she heard the door adjoining her room to the next open. Molly ran through the scenarios in her mind. She knew she had locked the door. There was no way someone could have unlocked it from the other side. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her and she was misinterpreting a sound from the TV. Molly muted the TV as she sat quietly waiting for a sound. A few minutes had passed and nothing happened, she got up to check the door. It was closed. Molly pressed her ear against the door trying to figure out if the other room was occupied. She didn't hear anything through the door. It must be all the stress she thought as she sighed a breath of relief.

Molly began making her way back to the bed when she felt an arm grab her waist. Instinctively she began to scream as she felt a hand slip over her mouth. Her nose picked up a familiar scent and instantly she knew it was Jim. She could feel the hand on her waist turning her to face him. He stood there inches from her smirking at her in his perfectly tailored suit. Molly was so mad she couldn't think as he roughly pressed his lips over hers swallowing her scream. She pushed him away. "What are you doing?" she asked him breathlessly, "You haven't contacted me in months and now you're just in my hotel room?" "Well you were the one trying to make me jealous, Molls. I just wouldn't have any of it. I know you aren't stupid. Besides, I was very interested in your talk. It was very good by the way," Jim said squinting his eyes at her with slight displeasure that she had halted his advances.


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: So this chapter is a bit longer. This chapter is also probably 75% smut so skip it if you aren't into that kind of thing. This chapter has significantly less medical stuff in it too (no promises for the next chapter though). Also, thank you for the reviews! As always, feedback is appreciated and any questions don't hesitate to PM me with. Enjoy!_

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Molly could feel her breath quickening as the realization of how close Jim was set in. Molly knew she had to keep talking to keep her mind from drifting to other thoughts, "I didn't want to make you jealous. It's just… sometimes you are so infuriating." Jim seemed unconvinced and smirked slightly in response, which made Molly even madder. "Look! You can't just ignore me for months on end with no indication that you are even alive. Then essentially break into my hotel room and expect me to just accept you with no questions asked. I'm not some doll you can toy with whenever you please, Jim." Molly exhaled shakily. She was quite surprised with herself. Normally, she was more reserved in expressing how she felt. She could tell Jim was a bit surprised as well. His usually expressive face was blank. She wasn't sure what he was thinking, but he quickly broke the silence. "Are you intimating that you do indeed care about me? I thought we were still playing that game where you pretend you don't like me," he said with a sense of smugness. Molly sighed with frustration. He wasn't getting it at all. "THIS ISN'T A GAME, JIM!" she huffed. The corners of Jim's lips crept up in a wide smile, "It's always a game, dear. It's just more fun if you actually admit how you feel about me." With that he moved his face closer to hers, she could feel his breath on her lips. His smell was intoxicating. Jim licked his lips as if he was prepared to devour her. Molly felt herself shudder in anticipation of what he was planning. His lips brushed lightly against hers, teasing her. Molly couldn't take it. Her head was swimming with desire as she felt herself melt into him and found herself kissing him back roughly.

He pushed her back against the wall. She could feel his hands undoing her messy bun. She gasped as he began moving his hands up her shirt cupping her breast. Molly broke away from the kiss and pushed him back slightly. His face was still inches from hers and she could feel her cheeks burning. "It's just… I don't know if it's wise to go further with this. What are we even doing? What if Sherlock and the others find out?" Molly was trying to avert her eyes from his. Jim's hand grabbed her chin bringing her face in line with his. "Molly, darling, who says anyone else has to know?" he whispered gruffly, moving his face so that his lips were grazing hers, "Nobody has to know…" Molly could feel his hands in her hair pulling her closer to him. His lips pressed against hers gently at first, but then building with more pressure. Molly responded by kissing him back with a sense of urgency. Jim was taken by surprise, he hadn't accounted that Molly would respond with such resolve. Molly could feel his lips grow into a small smirk. She moved her hands up to his shirt, making quick work of the buttons.

"If I had known keeping this a secret was all you wanted, Molly. I would have played that card much earlier." Jim said trying to maintain his composure as Molly's hands worked their way lower caressing his stomach as her other hand undid his pants. Jim countered by biting softly down her neck. Molly gasped as she felt Jim press against her. His hardness was more evident without the restriction of his suit pants. Jim ripped her nightshirt off. Molly shivered in the cold air and drew closer to him. His hands cupped her bottom as he lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around him as he walked towards the bed. He gently laid her down and climbed on top of her. Jim began kissing her harder letting his tongue slip into her mouth. Molly felt him push her further into the bed. He was much more forceful and in charge than he had been as Jim from IT and she liked it. Jim moved one of his hands so that he was caressing her thigh. His hand slowly moved up reaching her panties.

Molly was secretly pleased that she had forgotten to do her laundry before the trip leaving her only her special occasion lace panties to bring. "Really, Molly a lace bikini? I thought you were steadfastly practical in your underwear choices," Jim said smugly as he rubbed her clit through them. Molly bucked against his hand and gasped breathlessly, "Well you don't seem to be terribly disappointed by them." She began grabbing at the elastic waist of his boxers, trying to pull them down. Jim responded by pulling further away and smirking slightly. He didn't want to lose control quite yet. He grabbed her hands pulling them above her head. Using one hand he pinned her hands. Jim pressed his lips against hers, feverishly kissing her. Molly responded by wrapping her legs around his hips; grinding herself into his hardness. She felt Jim gasp slightly into her mouth. He used his free hand to pull her panties off. He broke away briefly looking deeply into her eyes before moving to her neck, biting her softly. Molly decided she had enough and hooked her toes around his boxer waistband, slowly pulling them off. Jim cocked his eyebrow up in approval as he wriggled out of them. Molly drew his hips closer to her. She let out a soft moan as she felt him against her.

Suddenly Jim stopped and pulled away slightly, quickly putting on a condom. "Please, Jim. Why are you stopping?" Molly asked softly. Using his free hand, Jim cupped her chin. His endless brown eyes focusing on her intently, he said gruffly "You know if we continue with this you will always be mine. I won't ever let you belong to someone else. Are you sure you want to continue?" Molly nodded breathlessly trying to position herself so that he would enter her. "No I want you to say it, Molls," continuing his firm grasp of her hands. "Please Jim, continue. I'm yours," she said while biting her lip. Molly felt his weight shift as positioned his erection over her entrance. "That's all I needed to hear," he said lustfully as he pushed forward into her. Molly gasped and raised her hips to take him in. Jim released her hands as he moved one of his hands to her face moving her chin slightly so he could look at her.

Jim could feel whatever semblance of control he had melting away as he quickened his pace thrusting into her to the hilt. He moved one hand to touch Molly's clit as she moved against him. Molly shuddered under his weight as she breathlessly moaned, "Oh Jim, right there." She dug her fingernails into his back as she could feel the sensation building in her as she moved her hips faster against him. She pressed herself further against Jim's hand. "Ahh, I'm so close Jim. Please don't stop," she gasped into his ear. Jim responded by plunging harder into her grinding his hips against hers. She stiffened against him as her orgasm ripped through her body. Jim could tell he wasn't close behind her as he continued to thrust into her. Molly bucked her hips against his as she wrapped her arms around him. She could feel his muscles tense up under her hands as he climaxed. "Fuck, Molly," he groaned as he collapsed onto her. They stayed like that for a while before Jim rolled off of her wrapping his arm around her. He propped himself up with his other arm and looked at her carefully.

She looked up at him fidgeting slightly with the sheet, "Um, so what do you want to do now?" Jim laughed, "Oh darling, I thought we could spend the night in. Then maybe I'll go with you to your lectures tomorrow." Molly's eyes widened, "You actually want to go to the conference with me? Are you sure you even find it interesting?" "What you don't think I can follow it? I'm just as smart as Sherlock, you know. Besides, maybe I can learn something that will be useful," Jim responded with a slight tone of bitterness. Molly rubbed his arm softly, "No, that's not what I meant at all. It's just that pathology isn't terribly interesting to most people…" "Well I'm not most people, am I Molly?" Jim said bending down and kissing her cheek, "Now let's see if anything good is on."


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Sorry for taking so long with this chapter. This year has been kicking my butt! I'm starting on electives soon though. Fingers crossed I get hassled less these next few months! Boards are also coming up soon..._

The light streaming in through the cream gauze curtains woke Jim up. As he became more aware he was pleasantly surprised with Molly snuggled against his chest. Although his arm was trapped under her head and slowly becoming numb, he held her tightly before she stirred against him. He let his grip ease on her as he let himself smile earnestly. It was much more difficult for him to maintain his distant and aloof persona around her. He didn't want to give her any inkling of how much he cared about her, at least not yet.

"Up already, Molls?" he asked lightly kissing her forehead. Molly yawned and looked up at him, groggily responding, "Mmm, yes I guess so." His facial expression had already steeled itself towards her.

Molly watched as Moriarty changed into a smart blue sweater with a light orange button-up. "You look quite adorable for the conference this morning," Molly remarked with pleasure giving him a quick peck on his cheek. "Well, you told me how ridiculous I looked at the conference yesterday. I can't embarrass you today, after all," he responded with a smirk.

Jim held Molly close as they went to the local coffee shop. The wind pierced through her jacket, but his warmth made all the difference as they made their way past a couple of blocks. Jim ordered his usual espresso and Molly ordered a vanilla latte and oatmeal. The feeling of routine made her feel like they could almost be a couple, but something held her back. Perhaps Jim could change she thought to herself, but she doubted it and the doubt gnawed a pit in her stomach.

When they arrived at the conference, they made their way to the exhibit hall where the GI conference was going to be held. They found seats near the front and Molly whispered sharply to Jim, "Don't screw anything up! I want to pay attention during the lecture!" Jim scowled a bit and adjusted his sweater, "Of course I'll behave myself, my dear Molly" The lecturer began with her talk and Molly became engrossed by the subject. She always had an interest in GI, but forensics was her true passion. Halfway through the lecture, the man in front of Molly began taking pictures with his tablet. At first, it was a mere annoyance but then it became troubling to Molly because she couldn't see past the tablet. She leaned over to Jim and whispered, "Can you believe how rude this man is?! I can't believe he's taking pictures with his tablet!" Jim leaned close to her so she could feel his breath on her neck and said coolly, "Don't worry my dear, if he continues he will regret it."

"No one will disrupt my Molly's conference time, especially if I am spending time enduring someone obsessing about the differential diagnosis for IBD," Jim thought to himself as he calculated what measure he would take. After the fifth time of the man obstructing Molly's view with his tablet, Jim calmly placed the silencer on his handgun and aimed it at his head. He steadied his hand before unloading the bullets into the man's tablet and skull. Jim carefully tucked the weapon into a plastic bag and grinned at Molly. "No one will disturb you again, Molls" he whispered to her. Molly sat in horror as the man's brains had splattered on the seat in front of her. "Um…. I'm not quite sure I appreciate it, but could we leave please quickly?" Molly said tugging at Jim's sweater. Jim smiled at her, "Of course my dear, let me tweet this first." As he took a picture of the man and quickly tweeted it with the hashtags, "#conference-etiquette #raisedright". Molly sighed, "Well at least we can go eat sandwiches…" as she dragged him out of the convention center.


	5. Chapter 5

_Finally this chapter is up sooner than the last one! I hope everyone enjoys this one. I'll try to update soon, but I'm not quite sure where I want this story to go. As usual feedback/comments are appreciated!_

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The rain began to come down torrentially as they finished buying their sandwiches. "Shall we make a run for it?" Jim asked eyeing Molly's nervous eyes as she studied the rain carefully. Of all the days she picked to wear a skirt and heels, she thought to herself. Molly quickly glanced around the café hoping there would be an open table. Seeing nothing open up, she responded tentatively "I suppose so. It's only five minutes to the hotel maybe we won't get soaked if we run?" With that Jim slipped his hand over hers in a tight grip, pulling her towards the door. He slipped the sandwiches underneath his coat. "Alright let's go." Molly felt herself pulled along by him as the rain hit her brown woolen coat soaking it. She felt the heated air from the lobby hit her cold cheeks as Jim pushed open the hotel doors.

As they made it into the hotel lobby, Molly stopped breathlessly in front of the elevator. She started laughing when she saw Jim. His carefully groomed hair was wet and out of place and his sweater clung to his chest. Jim frowned wrinkling his brow and snapped at her, "What's so funny?"

Molly reached up and pushed one of his loose hair strands out of his face, "You just look so different with you hair mussed up." Jim glanced coolly at her, waiting for the elevator door to open. The ping from the elevator punctuated the silence between them. Jim's hand roughly grasped Molly's and with a sense of urgency pulled her into the elevator car. The doors shut quickly behind them and the elevator lurched up. Molly gasped slightly as the elevator creaked to a halt. She felt terror fill her until she glanced up at Jim. His frown had twisted into a mercurial grin.

"Did you do this?!" Molly asked calmly. Jim pressed Molly against the mahogany wall, running his hand through her hair. "Oh my dear little Molly, why would I ever do something as drastic as shutting a whole elevator down to have some alone time with you?" Jim whispered in her ear gruffly, "Oh yes that's right because I love things a little bit more dramatic, don't I?" She could feel his hand tracing up under her skirt and stroking her thigh. She gasped as he quickly removed her underwear. Molly grabbed his shirt pulling his head closer until her lips were pressed on his. Her kissing grew more fervent as Jim ground his hips against her- lifting her up against the elevator wall. "Fuck, Molly, you have no idea what you do to me," he grunted. Molly reached down her hands deftly undoing his belt and zipper- her hands lightly grazing him as she whispered, "I think I have an idea…"

Molly fumbled through her purse feeling for the condom she had in case of emergencies. She quickly fished it out of her bag and Jim grabbed it from her. "Remember, Molly, you're all mine," he whispered in her ear as he unrolled the condom over his erection. Jim held Molly's thighs and shifted his weight as he pressed into her. Molly moaned while wrapping her legs around his waist. Jim thrust into her as she pulled him closer. Jim looked at Molly's flushed face as she let out another moan as his thrusts got faster. Molly locked eyes with Jim and pulled his face in for a rough hurried kiss. She broke away and raggedly whispered "Jim, please I'm so close". He slipped his hand under her dress and began stroking her clit. She ground her hips into his hand and could feel the climax rise in her. She shuddered under him. His thrusts became more hurried as he finally buried himself inside her with a grunt.

Molly brushed his disheveled hair out of his face and gave him a long kiss. Finally he pulled himself off of her and helped her steady herself on the ground. Molly laughed as Jim fumbled for his pants. He quickly resumed his composure glaring at her for having laughed. "What?" Molly asked "It's not every day I get to see you so flustered." Jim approached Molly pushing her against the elevator; "I think it would be best if you remembered just who you are laughing at." Molly folded her arms in protest and narrowed her eyes, "I think you and I both know we are beyond that. You need to lighten up. I thought the whole point of this week was we would pretend you aren't a consulting criminal and I'm not the pathologist for your favorite consulting detective."

Jim smirked at Molly's rebuttal. "Fine. What should we do then if I'm not a consulting criminal?" Molly tugged at his jacket revealing the sandwiches, which were now slightly mushed during the commotion. "Maybe we could start by eating lunch? And perhaps get out of the elevator?"


End file.
